Lying Your Way Into a Lease is Now a Felony
If you own a rental property in Florida, you already know the feeling. An applicant looks great on paper; the pay stubs check out, the ID looks real, and then something falls apart weeks or months later. Maybe the rent stops coming. Maybe you find out the "employer" on the application never existed.
Starting October 1, 2026, Florida owners and property managers have a real legal tool to fight back.
What's Changing
Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 1293 into law on June 12, 2026, creating a brand new crime under Florida law: fraudulent entry of a residential dwelling unit. It's a mouthful, but the idea is simple. If someone knowingly lies about their identity, hands over forged or fictitious documents like a fake ID, a doctored pay stub, or a fabricated bank statement, or impersonates someone else entirely to get into a rental, that's now a third-degree felony in Florida.
Here's the part that matters most for owners day-to-day: this kind of fraud is also now a non-curable lease violation. That means if an owner discovers a tenant lied their way into a lease, the owner can move to terminate with a 7-day notice to vacate. There's no waiting period to give the tenant a chance to "fix" the fraud, and an owner doesn't have to wait on a criminal case to move forward. The civil and criminal paths can run on their own timelines.
The bill passed with about as much agreement as you'll ever see in Tallahassee. It cleared the Florida House 110 to 0 and the Senate 34 to 0, and it was championed by the Florida Apartment Association with the backing of Florida Realtors. Florida is being recognized as the first state in the country to directly criminalize rental application fraud this way.
Why This Law Exists
Rental fraud isn't a rare, isolated problem. It's a documented, growing cost across the industry.
A national survey from the National Multifamily Housing Council found that 93.3% of housing providers experienced fraud in the past year, and among those who saw fraud increase, the average jump was over 40% year over year. Nearly a quarter of eviction filings among survey respondents were tied back to fraudulent applications in the first place.
TransUnion, one of the country's major credit bureaus, put a number on those costs. Their research found that the average rental housing provider writes off close to $1 million in bad debt tied to fraudulent applications. Their data also flagged a clear early warning sign: applicants with 15 or more credit inquiries in the week before applying for a lease had a charge off rate more than three times higher than the average applicant.
Florida hasn't been a bystander in this trend. Industry groups have repeatedly flagged the state, especially South Florida, as one of the areas most affected by fake pay stubs, synthetic identities, and counterfeit financial documents showing up in rental applications.
That's the backdrop this law was written for. It's not about making life harder for honest applicants. It's about giving owners a real path forward when someone deliberately lies to get the keys.
"This law gives Florida owners something they've genuinely needed," said Benjamin Gene, President of Keyes Property Management. "Fraud isn't just an inconvenience, it's a real financial risk, and now there's a clear legal path to address it quickly instead of feeling stuck."
What This Means If You Own a Rental Property
- Screening still matters most. This law addresses fraud after the fact. A thorough, consistent screening process on the front end is still an owner's best defense.
- Documentation is now more valuable than ever. If fraud is discovered after moving in, having the original application, IDs, and financial documents on file will support both a lease termination and a potential criminal referral.
- The two tracks are separate. An owner doesn't need to wait for a criminal case before terminating the lease. The law is explicit that both can move independently.
- This starts October 1, 2026. Leases signed before that date aren't retroactively covered, so this is a good moment to make sure your screening and documentation practices are ready for the new standard.
The Bigger Picture
Every rental market has its challenges, and fraud has quietly been one of the more frustrating ones for Florida owners. This law doesn't solve everything, but it's a genuine step forward, and it's the kind of change that makes a real difference for the people who trust us to protect their investment.
If you have questions about how this affects your property or your screening process, reach out to the Keyes Property Management team. We're here to help you navigate it, the same way we always have. To learn more, visit www.keyespm.com.
Data and Information Sources
Florida Senate, House Bill 1293 (2026): flsenate.gov
Chapter 2026-143, Laws of Florida: laws.flrules.org
Florida House of Representatives, Final Staff Analysis, HB 1293: flsenate.gov
Florida Politics, June 2026, Florida Apartment Association statement on HB 1293: floridapolitics.com
Florida Realtors, 2026 Legislative Final Report: floridarealtors.org
National Multifamily Housing Council, Pulse Survey on Rental Application Fraud and Bad Debt: nmhc.org
TransUnion, June 17, 2026, rental application fraud research: globenewswire.com
